Asian stock markets churned on Tuesday, as investors mulled the earnings season, rising crude prices, and the pending summit between US President Donald Trump and China leader Xi Jinping.
Brent crude oil struck $107.67 a barrel, up 3.3% during Asian trading hours, as Persian Gulf turmoils continued to rattle oil markets.
Tokyo finished in the green, while Hong Kong and Shanghai fell back. Other regional exchanges were similarly mixed.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened evenly, wobbled, but finished up 0.5% on strength in tech issues and a generally solid earnings season.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 324.69 to 62,742.57, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 124 to 99.
Leading the upside was Furukawa Electric, gaining 16.1% after reporting earnings, while social-media platform LY Corporation declined 8.6%.
In economic news, Japan's leading index of business conditions rose to 114.5 in March from 113.2 in February, striking the highest level since April 2022, reported the Cabinet Office.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened steadily but declined to those close, finishing off 0.2% as investors awaited clarity ahead of the Trump-Xi meeting.
The broad gauge Hang Seng fell 58.93 to 26,347.91 as losing issues outnumbered gainers 48 to 40. The Hang Seng TECH Index lost 0.7% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index fell 0.5%.
Leading the upside was Xinyi Glass, gaining 4.5%, while computer-maker Lenovo declined 3.4%.
On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.3% to 4,214.49.
On the other regional exchanges, the South Korean KOSPI fell 2.3%; the Taiwan TWSE inclined 0.3%; the Australian ASX 200 declined 0.4%; the Singapore Straits Times Index rose 0.1%, and the Thai Set declined 0.4%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was down 1.9%.
The MSCI All Country Asia Pacific Index fell 0.7% on the day.